Constable drawing up for sale after 200 years

A drawing by one of Britain's most renowned landscape artists will be sold for the first time in nearly 200 years.

The work by Suffolk-born artist John Constable was created in 1827 and depicts Valley Farm in the Suffolk village of Flatford, near where the artist's family mill was.

The chalk drawing has been held in private hands for almost two centuries and on Wednesday will be auctioned off by Roseberys, with an estimated price of £20,000-£30,000.

Lara L'vov-Basirov, associate director and head of Old Master, British & European Pictures at Roseberys, said it was a "wonderfully expressive" piece of work.

Entitled A House and Haystack at Flatford, the drawing was inscribed by Constable with "Flatford/13 Oct/1827" in the lower right coroner.

The artist gifted it to his second son, Charles Golding Constable, and it depicts the warden's house at Valley Farm.

Following Charles's death in 1878, the drawing passed to family friend, James Henry Beazley.

From then the work descended directly to the current owner and this will be the first time the work has left private ownership since being created.

"This wonderfully expressive drawing offers an intimate look at the Suffolk countryside that shaped Constable's aesthetic imagination," Ms L'vov Basirov said.

"With provenance stemming directly from the artist, it's a tangible link to his life and practice."

Born in 1776 in East Bergholt, Constable is best known for his depiction of the English countryside, particularly in the Dedham Vale in Suffolk and Essex.

His father owned Flatford Mill and Constable's most famous work, The Hay Wain, was set close to the mill.

Constable died in London in 1837.

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